The week in government

Here are the posted open, public Southborough committee and board meetings for this week* along with my selected highlights from the agendas.

As always, be aware that changes to the meeting schedule (and agendas) are known to happen throughout the week. (Scroll down for details on any meetings that popped up after last Monday’s post.) For an updated list of meetings, visit the Town website.

These days, most (but not all) meetings, can be participated in, watched live, and replayed from home.)**

Monday, August 10, 2026

• Council on Aging Meeting, 10:00 am @ Senior Center (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Updates on programs, Kiosk intro, Tax work-off, patio status, Heritage Day, Tricentennial, and clubs; MCOA Conference
• Library Board of Trustees Meeting, 11:00 am @ zoom only (agenda, video) Agenda Highlights: Director’s Report; Expense Report; Fall/Winter 2026 Holiday Closures; CPC signage for past Library projects
• Taxation Aid Committee Meeting, 4:15 pm @ Town House Hearing Room (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Update on Trust Fund Support

Tuesday, August 11, 2026

• Board of Commissioners of Trust Funds Meeting, 8:00 am @ Town House Hearing Room (agenda) Agenda Highlights: New Applicant referred by Youth/Family
• Regional School Committee Meeting,
  9:00 am @ webinar only (agenda with packet) Agenda Highlights: Adopt Mass General Law Chapter 32B, Sections 21 through 23
• Board of Health Meeting, 9:30 am @ zoom only (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Variance Requests (8 Partridge Hill Rd & 14 Newton St); Bodyworks Establishment; Language Updates for Food and Housing Policies; Appointment of Part-Time Tobacco Control Inspector
• Select Board Meeting, 6:30 pm @ Town House Hearing Room and zoom (agenda with packet) Agenda Highlights: Town Clerk Resignation and replacement next steps; Appoint Probationary Police Officer; FY27 Transfer Station & Swap Shop Rules & Regs; Impact of Stormwater Enterprise Fund; FY28 budget process (with potential override); Open warrant for October 17 Special Town Meeting and refer 2-family zoning Article to Planning Board; Appoint special counsel for Hopkinton MWRA connection agreement; Appoint 2 members to Historical Commission; Assign OML Complaint to Town Counsel; Review Stewardship Committee charge; next steps for Town Clerk position; Consider accepting MGL Chapter 32B, Section 21-23; Approve $25K contract for Government Structure Study; Discuss Cannabis delivery opt-out provision
  • Advisory Committee Meeting, 6:30 pm @ Select Board Meeting (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Discuss prelim FY28 budget and operational override
  • Stewardship Committee Meeting, 6:30 pm @ Select Board Meeting (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Attend Select Board Meeting (Review of Stewardship Committee charge)

Wednesday, August 12, 2026

• Registrars of Voters Meeting, 5:30 pm @ Town House – 1st floor (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Annual delegation of authorities to Town Clerk; Authorize Advance Opening/Early Deposit/Central Tabulation Facility for State Election; Discuss extending In-Person Early Voting hours; Town Clerk resignation and process to seek a replacement
• Tricentennial Committee Meeting, 6:30 pm @ Public Safety Complex and zoom (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Reflections relating to Tricentennial celebratory events; Updates on status of events and fundraisers
• Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting, 7:00 pm @ Town House Hearing Room and zoom (agenda with packet) Agenda Highlights: Public Hearings on 40-42 Central Street/ Southborough Historical Society Appeal (of denial of a Certificate of Occupancy and Notice of Zoning Violation) and 0 Northboro Rd Special Permit (for 15 feet of frontage on a preexisting nonconforming lot); Elect officers; Two-Family Zoning Bylaw
  • • Planning Board Meeting, 7:00 pm @ ZBA Meeting (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Discuss Southborough Historical Society’s Appeal

Looking Back:

Below are meetings from last week that were posted to the Town website after I initially ran the list last Monday morning (including ones that I added in later updates):

Thursday, August 6, 2026

• Elementary School Building Committee Meeting, 7:00 pm @ zoom only (agenda, video) Agenda Highlights: Presentation from consultant on Options for Neary Building Project

Friday, August 7, 2026

• Personnel Board Meeting, 8:30 am @ Public Safety Complex and zoom (agenda, video) Agenda Highlights: Salary Study status report

*I don’t list meetings that are only closed Executive Sessions unless the agenda indicates the possibility of some action in an open public session at the opening or closing of the meeting.

**Details on watching meetings remotely:

• Town Committee/Board Meetings:
  • If in-person meetings don’t also advertise a zoom option, assume that it won’t be broadcast or captured on video.
  • To remotely participate in meetings that allow zoom, click here.
  • To live stream (or view later) remote or hybrid meetings (even those covered by Southborough Access Media) over the internet, use the Town’s YouTube Channel for Remote Meetings. (The meetings covered by SAM can also be streamed on their website here, and eventually on SAM’s YouTube Channel.)
  • Cable Access — Southborough Access Media broadcasts the regular evening meetings for the Select Board, Planning Board, and Zoning Board of Appeals that take place in the Town House Hearing Room. (Those meetings will still allow zoom participation.) View SAM’s live and replayed broadcasts via their Government cable access channel (Verizon-37 and Charter-194).
• School Committee Meetings:
  • Subcommittee meetings and some special meetings are only available to attend/view live (in person or by “webinar”), sometimes with no later rebroadcast, sometimes later posted to Southborough Access Media here and on Verizon-37 and Charter-192 and their YouTube channel.
  • Regular Southborough School Committee meetings are generally broadcast live by Southborough Access Media here and on Verizon-37 and Charter-192. (Video replays are also usually made available through their YouTube channel within a couple of days.)
  • Regular Regional School Committee meetings (or Combined meetings based at Algonquin) are live broadcast by Northborough Cable Access here and YouTube channel, and on Southborough’s Education Channel (Verizon-29 and Charter-194). The meetings are also eventually rebroadcast and available on demand through NCAT’s VideoOnDemand player and YouTube (though that can take several days).
• Other:
  • Southborough does participate in some regional collaboratives hosted in other towns. Those committees follow their own rules and may not offer a way to re-watch zoom meetings.